The Sothe Debate
by Chicken Yuki
Summary: With the unveiling of two new characters for the Wii game, some have speculated that one of them is an older Sothe! Could a PoR be in the works? Sothe and the older thief come together to discuss this issue.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, its characters, or the Nintendo "Wii", which was likely a mistake on their part. Anyway, I hope you guys have fun reading this._

Fire Emblem: The Sothe Debate

"Hello, everybody, it's me, the somewhat angsty, green-clad loner thief from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I assume most of you Fire Emblem Fanatics looked into the web and noticed something interesting about the new Fire Emblem Wii game, but before we get into this subject, I would like to talk about Nintendo's inexplicable madness"

The green-happy thief coughed to clear his throat before he went on.

"WHY THE HELL DID THEY NAME THEIR NEW SYSTEM THE 'WII'? WHAT INH THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING? DID SOME RANDOM EMPLOYEE ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAD TO 'WEE', AND THE DEVELOPERS WENT ALONG WITH IT? DID THEY THINK OF HOW CHILDREN WOULD GO 'WHEE!' AT THE THOUGHT OF A NEW NINTENDO CONSOLE WITH ITS 'REVOLUTIONARY' CONTROLLER! OR ARE THEY TRYING TO APPEASE THE FRENCH, SAYING THAT ANY QUESTION THE FRENCH WILL ASK, NINTENDO SENDS IN THEIR BRAND NEW CONSOLE AS THEIR ANSWER? THEY SHOULD'VE KEPT THE NAME 'REVOLUTION'! VIVA LA REVOLUTION! FIRE EMBLEM 10 DESERVES TO BE ON THE 'REVOLUTION', NOT THE 'WII-WII!'"

Winded from his long periods of shouting, Sothe breathed hard to catch his breath before he went on.

"Anyway, there has been a whole lot of debate on whether that new older guy is my future self or not. I admit, Path of Radiance did leave a whole lot of plot holes, especially with Sephiran's ominous message at the end. So, to help settle the debate, I decided to bring the big guy himself to the front"

Cooly, Sothe dragged out the mysterious older guy that bore a remarkable resemblance to him.

"Hello, everybody. I'm not allowed to share my name for now, as it has yet to be officially announced, but since there's been this whole big debate about whether or not I'm a new character, Sothe felt it would be best if I arrived to at least help the Fire Emblem fans settle down"

Curiously, the younger thief examined his possibly older counterpart.

"Wait... what the--- your mid-drift's exposed! You mean, if you ARE my older self, I'm going to be running around with my belly button showing?"

"Well... you see, this look is quite fashionable according to Assasins' Weekly. They even have a feature on Abel Knox from Star Oceans 3"

Sothe stared at the older thief in a funny way.

"I might actually start caring about fashion when I'm older? That's kinda lame"

"Well, actually, I'm not trying to make a fashion statement here. This is actually the same shirt I wore when I was around your age."

"What! That would suck! All that time I spent stealing for a living, and there's a good chance that I'll never jack any new clothes? All those years of experience will amount to nothing? This blows! No wonder people think I'm such a crappy chracter in PoR!"

The older thief looked at his younger companion with an aloof manner.

"Hey, kid. Weren't we supposed to be discussing about whether or not we're actually connected?"

Sothe scoffed in frustration of his possible future.

"Right, right... whatever. Let's get on with the argument"

Both thieves then stood side by side, to make allow observers to make easy comparisons.

"As you can see.. both of us have nearly the exact same hairstyle, but the exact same hair and eye color. Our clothes are also similar, except for the older guy's mid-drift choice, which still confuses me, by the way. Even our pants and shoes are similar, for crying out loud! One notable difference is that I'm not holding any throwing knives, while he is."

The older thief waved his right hand around, which wielded quite a few knives.

"Then again, I do have this special pack here. I believe these thingies sticking out of the side are throwing knives as well, although I don't know why I couldn't use them in battle".

Sothe displays the yellowish pack by the belt, with things sticking out that did resemble throwing knife hilts.

"We also have the same color scarf, although mine sticks out in two directions, while my older friend here goes out one way. Maybe a bigger body and higher height will require me to wrap my scarf around a little more?"

The older thief nodded in some confirmation. "That is indeed a possibility"

"Other than a few physical comparisons, there are also a few things to consider from the game itself. Luckily, I brought along a notebook containing interesting information that could point out that the new Wii game could be a PoR Sequel, and that I could indeed become this handsome thief right next to me"

Sothe got out a brown leather notebook from his pack, and gave it to the older thief to read.

"Let's see... okay, first of all, it says that Sothe was a very minor, and almost very useless character that couldn't be promoted, despite his "Blossom" skill. I admit that Blossom a very frustrating and almost completely useless skill, but there have been rumors that this is the perfect excuse to make Sothe into an uber-unit next game, which people who hope will not make me like a "Jeigan" or "Marcus" character. Being such a minor character is also the perfect excuse for participation on the sequel, seeing as how this leaves so many potholes in his personal story. There's one interesting part of this that should be brought to attention, but we'll come back to that later. Anyway, the next tidbit says that when Sothe loses all of his HP in Path of Radiance, he does not actually die. Some have claimed this to be the same way for a few other PoR Characters, and some have even considered replaying it while putting emphasis on these special characters to try and gain some background information on a possible sequel. One support for this argument would be Karel's "death" from FE7. Obviously, Karel cannot die, or else he would never exist in FE6, and the Time/Space Continuum would just be utterly destroyed were Karel to be truly "killable" in the prequel. Another note to be considered is that the both of us are "left-handed", which is rare trait among FE characters, even people in the real world. Some people would argue this as coincidence, as it very well could be. Unfortunately, I'm not allow to confirm or deny any of your suspicions yet, as Nintendo has to keep all of this a secret for now."

Sothe sighed. "You and your secrets. You know... just looking at each other, this can't possibly be a coincidence. In fact, I feel almost certain you ARE my older self. But you do have a point about nothing be official yet. It's strange that a handful of people are saying that our connection is "unlikely", or that it's just simple "coincidence". If our similar appearance is "coincidence", the development team desperately needs a new character designer. That, and I think Nintendo will be pissing of a whole lot of PoR fans, and mostly, MY fans..."

"We'll just have to wait until Nintendo reveals the truth"

"I HOPE you're me. My time spent in PoR sucked..."

"Yeah, I know. We just went over that"

Sothe smacked his hand upon his head.

"Let's... not go back to that, okay? Geez, now where were we? Alright. There was one more piece of evidence we'll bring out. Unfortunately, she herself is a source of many a conflict, so we'll be ending our little discussion after bringing her in. As you know, I have said that there was someone important I had to look for that was somewhere in Begnion or Daein. Unfortunately, that was never resolved by any of my Support Conversations, or the end of PoR in general. This is why people have suspected to believe that our upcoming character could be that special somebody I've been searching for throughout the game. Anyway, here she is."

The older thief yanked out the new mage girl with whitish long hair and golden eyes, draped in special red robes.

Sothe stared at her, with his face turning bright red.

"W-whoa... i-is that you? I... hope you're her! M-maybe it'll mean we'll be sharing an upcoming adventure together, with me as the bigger guy. I hope the one I've been looking for all this time ends up growing into you! Although... that comment could end up haunting me if I was really searching for an older man, or a brother, or something. Ah... I REALLY hope the one I was searching for was a little girl that grows up into you..."

Sothe, being the collected thief that he was, kept himself from outright drooling over the young mage girl.

"Uh... th-thank you Sothe, I'm really flattered. Anyway, nice to meet you, everybody! It's nice to know that I'll be one of the new characters for the New Fire Emblem game! Unfortunately, I'm not aloud to reveal my true identify yet, but I've already heard of a few rumors about me!

Let's see... if I'm not an entirely new character after all, some believe that I might be Mist, or Illyana, but... that's unlikely, somehow. I'm sorry, but logic doesn't favor the odds of those possibilities. Anyway, there are two other theories, which may work against the theory that I'm Sothe's "important" one."

The younger thief let out a disappointed sigh.

"One theory goes in favor of those Zihark x Illyana enthusiasts out there. This means that I could be their daughter! But, I dunno... I think both of them die for good in PoR if they are used irresponsibly"

Suddenly, Zihark appears into the scene.

"Hello Emblem fans, Myrmidon Zihark's in the house! There are many that state I'm far mor useful than Mia, possibly even that dessert bum Stefan, for that matter!"

Zihark flashed his shiny teeth to his countless fangirls, which cause them to swoon and faint in appropriate response.

"Are you... my daddy?"

"Sorry, I'm not sure, milady. Although it would be interesting if Illyana and I got together. Man, can that girl seriously throw down the chow! I don't know if that gives me an excuse to fall in love with her, but she's certainly adorable! And I can't deny you that same compliment, little girl."

Zihark gave a suave gesture to the mysterious girl mage as she blushed from the swordsman's gregarious attitude.

"I... hope you're my daddy... you're really nice..."

"Aw, thank you, little girl. The thought of having a daughter does sound flattering!"

Not too far away, Sothe was steamed, while the older thief looked onward nonchalantly.

"Zihark! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey... this pretty little lady called my name, and I felt obligated to come here. Besides, you know there are a lot of people who love the Zihark x Illayana pairing. I wouldn't want their hopes and dreams dashed so soon, would I?"

"J-just get outta here! You weren't authorized to come here!"

"Very well, then. I hope you guys out there are still playing Path of Radiance... with me as part of your main crew. You all know how much I kick ass as a unit, anyway. Ciao!"

With that, Zihark disappeared into thin air.

"Anyway, another theory about me is that I could be the love child of Soren and Mist! Oooh... how scandalous! Points very well could point to yes, as Soren does not necessarily die as well, and Mist was essential to the plot, so it would be weird for her to die as well. Sadly, I don't feel any resemblance to Soren, but Mist... she does, seem like a fitting mother for me. I... do feel an awfully strong resemblance towards her."

Out of nowhere, the red-eyed, angsty mage guy snuck aboard with a backstage pass hung around his neck. He took a few steps towards the mystery mage and inspected her personally.

"Hmmm... well, you seem to possess interesting talent with magic, but I don't see any indication that you could be my child, as well. Personally, I think Mist would be more likely to have a child with that archer Rolf. I admit that it does bug me that Mist and Rolf appear much younger than our green thief. So then... how old would Sothe have to be for Rolf and Mist to be raising a healthy 12-16 year old girl, anyway? Personally, I don't understand any reasoning as to why I would procreate with Ike's sister, anyway. Something doesn't feel right about it in my mind"

"So then... you don't think you're my daddy?"

"Highly unlikely. But, if I do happen to have a daughter... and that daughter happens to be you, than I am proud to have a daughter who possesses such potential. I'll... just try not to treat you like my two former guardians treated me. They're both the reason why I act all "emo" and everything... well, that, and a few of the spoilers regarding my life's history. Seeing as you're all happy, however, I guess you weren't treated badly, or anything. Yes, you're far too happy to be my daughter, unless it's Mist that balanced you out."

"Wow... Mist sounds like a nice Mommy!"

"Well, yes. I suppose you're right, now that you think about it. She's quite cute, and innocent, and dependable, and..."

With the sudden thoughts of Mist accumulating in his mind, Soren's entire face started to match the color of his eyes.

"Agh... crap! Now you got me into thinking about Mist!"

Sothe nearly grinned from total amusement.

"Ah! I guess you'd actually be a pretty nice Daddy, huh? You're already blushing pretty hard! You look so boyish and innocent, too!"

Soren gulped down hard, and his face ceased being red. "I"m... sorry... the thought of being Mist's... husband still seems preposterous. It's highly unlikely that you're my "Love Child", even if the thought of Mist suddenly brought me some inexplicable feelings pleasure..."

"It's alright... you're an okay person, whether or not you're my daddy!"

"T-thank you..."

All of a sudden, a mysterious blonde boy clutching a Nephenee plushy in one hand, and wielding a Brave Lance in the other, charged into the discussion.

"SOREN MUST DIE!"

Sothe nudged the usually poker-faced sorcerer. "Uh, Soren, you should probably leave now. One of your haters is trying to strike you down, and we can't have the stage be soaked in either of your guy's blood."

Soren shrugged.

"Sure, okay."

The apathetic mage coolly walked off away from plain view as the Soren Hater charged after him with full speed. Not too long after, an entire herd of overzealous Soren fangirls followed suit. The sounds of a violent massacre could be heard in the distance.

All three main characters turned to watch the carnage, but they quickly became too disgusted to view it any further. Sothe then turned his attention to the viewers.

"Uh... okay, that was weird. Anyway, thanks for your time, everybody. I'm glad you took some time out of your busy schedule to pay attention to our little discussion. Personally, I'm hoping the new Fire Emblem game IS a sequel to PoR. I need a better part, this time! There's just no way they'd throw away somebody with my potential, especially with my significant fan following. Otherwise, I'll just have to go over to the guys at Intelligent Systems and do a little... convincing"

Soren grinned as he stared at his shiny knife with grim satisfaction. The older thief than stepped up to continue the goodbyes.

"Right. Until then, please look to Nintendo, or any other available video game news providers for further development. At the very least, please get the new Nintendo Wii, despite it's humiliatingly lame name, and buy that new Fire Emblem game, anyway. Whether or not it's a PoR sequel or prequel, a good Fire Emblem game is a good Fire Emblem game regardless, so please don't diss the game itself if the writers decided not to go for continuation. It would be convenient if they DID fill in all those potholes, like what the Black Knight looks like underneath his armor, if he had any connection to Sephiran, or who in the world Sothe was looking for all this time. Actually, I'm starting to be convinced that I really AM an older Sother as well..."

To wrap it all up, the mystery mage girl leapt forward and gave a cheerful wave to all the Fire Emblem enthusiasts.

"Thank you everybody! I don't know if I can live up to everyone's standards of being the next Fire Emblem Cute girl, but I'll try my best! Maybe I'll be an Est character, who accompanies my friend as a weakling at first, but then grows to be really powerful! Or maybe I'll be a Lord character somehow, and get a cute flying horse in my promotion! I really wish I knew how my role in the new Fire Emblem game will work, but I guess we'll all have to wait 'till then, right? Good night, everyone!"

After a few more seconds of vigorous waving, she turned her attention to the younger thief.

"Sothe... I honestly hope the older thief really IS you... you look so boyish and cool at this age... and... I think it would be kinda romantic to know that it's this same boy who will be protecting me in the future as an adult"

Again, Soren turned bright red. Before he could say anything in response, the mage girl lept into his arms in a loving embrace. The older thief simply stood there, amused by this sudden display of affection.

_Author's Note: Okay, people! You can go ahead and use my review section to discuss whether or not the new guy really IS Sothe, or even share your own theories on this, IF will allow it. Otherwise, go ahead and rate this silly, inane little story as is. Also, remember that I did not specify the winner in the battle between Soren, the Soren hater, and the Soren fangirls. You can decide yourself who came out alive in that battle. _


End file.
